


Much delayed, but now we're here.

by freedbowtruckle



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Fix-It of Sorts, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of Pennywise, Mentions of the Other Losers, Mild Hurt/Comfort, No Smut, No tears here, Period-Typical Homophobia, The Hammock (IT), and feelings, eddie and richie sorts their shit out, in which Richie and Eddie finally comes to term with their sexualities, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 04:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20860469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freedbowtruckle/pseuds/freedbowtruckle
Summary: The Hammock has always been a huge part of their lives, naturally that's where they finally find each other again.





	Much delayed, but now we're here.

**Author's Note:**

> Bruh I'm back much sooner than I expected. Once again my inability to sleep when I should have led to me writing Reddie fics. Enjoy this quick piece that I wrote at like 5 am. For once no holy water needed.

Eddie and Richie spend a lot of their teenage summers in the loser’s sanctuary. Sometimes the other losers are with them, sometimes not. The story always starts the same, Richie or Eddie grabs a hold of the sought-after hammock and eventually ends up sharing it. It’s usually accompanied by lots of shoving and quarrels, even occasional tickling, nothing new there.

This time though as Eddie ceases his tickling of Richie, something’s different. His breathless laugh quickly fades, and his eyes are wide and full of wonder when their gazes meet. Involuntarily, Richie’s cheeks redden, and Eddie feels nauseous at the implication. Instinctively, he angles his body away, desperate to create even the smallest distance, and Richie seems to catch the hint because he rolls over, reaching for his discarded Walkman on the nearby table.

The air is thick with tension.

Eddies eyes trail the slope of Richie’s back as he bends and is struck by how small and deflated he looks. Eddie wants to fix it, but he can’t. Richie wants something Eddie isn’t sure he’s ready to give.

23 years later.

Richie drags his hand along the still strung line of the hammock and lets it slide down to add some pressure to the dusty fabric. It sways gently beneath his fingers.

In the spur of the moment he flips the hammock upside down, watching the dust trail it’s way slowly to the ground. He pulls at the the strings one extra time before climbing in, successfully, but a lot less limber than last time all those years ago. He allows himself to sink into the material, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. He doesn’t care if he inhales all the dust particles in the entire room.

He lies there, so lost in memories that he doesn’t notice Eddie approach until the latter sneezes a few steps from the hammock.

“Hey there, Eds. If you’re here for the best spot I’m afraid you’re too late”. He let’s his hands fall out as to show off his current position. Eddie crinkles his nose.

“God Richie, this place is filthy”. He stops himself from covering his mouth with his hand in favour of pulling at the strings.

“Woah, what are you doing?”

Eddie rolls his eyes as Richie grips the sides of the wobbling hammock tightly.

“Checking the stability, what does it look like”.

“I’ve done that”.

“Yeah, not for double weight you haven’t, scoot over”.

That effectively shuts Richie up and Eddie proceeds to manoeuvre his body into the limited available space. It’s a lot more cramped than it used to be since they’re a few inches bigger and at least several pounds heavier, but somehow, they still fit. They end up facing each other, Eddie covering at least half of Richie’s body with his own.

Richie looks at him oddly.

Eddie feels like he can’t breathe, having Richie beside him in their old space brings back so many memories, all the wasted potential. The potential Eddie wasted because he was scared.

Richie may be a lot softer around the edges compared to when he was a lanky sharp-boned youth, but the increase of his heartbeat as Eddie puts his head on his chest is the same. Richie tenses up beneath him.

“You’re not him”.

For a brief second Eddie thinks Richie means some other guy and is momentarily hurt, but the feeling disappears as soon as he gets what Richie means. He can’t stop the anger coursing through his veins.

“That fucking clown used me against you?”

He gets all the confirmation he needs when Richie remains silent. Eddie can’t believe how stupid he was not to realise it sooner.

“Motherfucker”.

Now, if there’s anything that Richie is sure to respond to in general it is a combination of the word mother and fucker, so when he doesn’t, Eddie halts. Richie’s heart is nearly erratic against his ear and Eddie guesses that he would have trust issues too if he had seen Richie transform into Pennywise. Best option available; finding a childhood memory that will confirm his identity. He doesn’t need to look around the room for long.

“Do you remember the time Ben and I spent ages trying to get rid of that big ass spider that got stuck in your hair? It kept disappearing and you were so hysteric that Mike and Bill had to help us hold you down”.

Richie shudders and his eyes wearily look around the room as if he expects it to change into a dark version of the memory. Eddie continues.

“Then Bev shows up, sprays some hairspray at it, and it’s dead. You brought one of Stan’s shower caps home that day”.

Richie finally moves to squint at Eddie.

“I remember this. I should’ve just cut my hair”.

Eddie smiles back at Richie.

“I liked your stupid hair”.

Richie relaxes beneath him and his heart seems to calm down. Eddie licks his lips before he loses his temporary courage.

“I still like your stupid hair. And your stupid face”.

Richie stays completely still as Eddie reaches out to thread his fingers trough his hair, but his eyes widen behind his glasses.

Eddie doesn’t want to force a reaction out of Richie, so he just stays in that position. The moment drags out long enough for Eddie to start feeling awkward but just as he’s about to withdraw his hand Richie covers it with his own.

His expression looks uncertain.

“I don’t know what you want me to say”.

The fact that Richie opens up at all is enough to make Eddie want to punch the air in celebration. He shakes his head softly.

“You’re not the one who needs to say anything. I didn’t mean to hurt you back then, but I did, and I’m sorry. I was scared of my own feelings”.

It was true. Derry had never been too kind on same sex relationships.

Hurt flashes across Richie’s face.

“I was scared too”.

Eddie nods and strokes his thumb gently across Richie’s scalp.

“I understand that now, but you always seemed so brave, I thought that maybe we could both move past it”.

Richie remains silent for a while. When he finally speaks it feels like a punch to Eddie's face.

“Like you did with Myra?”

It is Eddie's turn to tense up. Richie notices and covers his face with his free hand.

“Sorry, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I said that”.

The anxiety that Richie radiates brings Eddie an odd feeling of comfort, Richie was never good at keeping his thoughts to himself after all. He takes a breath to calm down, the last thing he needs is for Richie to close himself off again.

“You’re right. I thought I moved past it”. He seeks out Richie’s gaze where he’s peeking through his fingers a lot less stealthy than he thinks. “Hell, I just found out yesterday, when I saw you again, that I hadn’t”.

Richie removes his hand and looks at him in silent wonder. Eddie continues.

“So, if you still like me, maybe we can talk about all the other things later and we can, I don’t know.. kiss?”

It’s quiet for a second, then Richie’s face cracks into a smile worthy a madman.

“Damn Eds, now that’s the way to a guy’s heart”.

“Shut up”. Eddie mutters, deciding to make sure himself that Richie stays quiet, so he leans forward and presses a kiss to the side of Richie’s mouth. It’s rather effective.

He moves up, careful not to disturb hammock’s movements too much and does it again, this time centre on. Richie’s gaze is wide beneath him as if he can’t comprehend what he’s seeing. Eddie smiles.

“You can say something now, unless it's something dumb”.

Richie blinks.

“Damn, Eds”.

Eddie shuts him up again.


End file.
